A Wild Night in San Fransico
by Harriet Vane
Summary: Willow invites a demon, which naturaly leads to a road trip


Disclaimer: I just borrowed these characters, WB, you can have them back now. And I'm not even charging, what a deal!

  
  


A Wild Night In San Francisco 

The moon was almost full, just yesterday it had been. Oz looked up at the sky. "I miss seeing the full moon." He said quietly. Willow turned her head from the sky to look at him. It wasn't his fault that he could never sit with her to gaze into the full moon, but deep inside he thought that it was. 

"Well, the moon is almost full," Willow said, trying to be supportive, but it only made Oz look at the ground. Willow immediately saw how her comforts had backfired, and she looked down too. They sat like that, silently looking at the ground for three hours, comforted in each other's presence, feeling no need to talk. The moon had set and it was right before dawn, the darkest part of night. "We should skedaddle," Oz said, his voice was scratchy and trembled a little because of the cold.

"Why?" Willow's voice was dreamy and distant and very un-willowish.

"Aren't you just a little sleepy?" He asked her as he gently put his hand on her shoulder. She shook her head but didn't look at him.

"No," She whispered from far away.

Oz suddenly became frightened. Willow was rigged underneath his touch, and cold. That was what scared him the most, she was dreadfully cold. He started to gently shake her shoulder, but as it became more and more obvious that she was not going to respond he shook her harder and harder, out of shear panic. "Willow? Willow? Are you ok? Can you hear me?" 

"I'm fine," she muttered, from her far away perch. "I can hear you." But she didn't look at him at all, Oz was on the verge of tears.

Finally he decided that the shaking thing wasn't going to work he took her hands and pulled her off her the isolated park bench they had been sitting on. They were colder than ice. Oz had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach that got worse and worse with each second. "Willow," it seamed odd calling her that. No matter what that person looked like it was most definitely not Willow he was leading away.

  
  


School wouldn't be in session for at least three more hours, but Oz, who rarely showed his face in class, was there and was paying attention.

"So, Willow is like possessed or something, like a big scary scene from The Exorcist. Is her head gonna start spinning around?" Oz was wringing his hands, he kept glancing toward the door to Giles' office, where Willow was flipping through an ancient book.

"Saying she is possessed it a bit of an exaggeration."

"But you just said that," Oz swallowed, "Whoever is in her, isn't her."

Giles sat down next to Oz. He hadn't known the boy for that long but he did know that Oz cared for Willow far beyond most high school relationships, far beyond most any relationships. They needed each other, they complimented each other. Giles had no doubt that they could live without each other, but he realized that life would be somewhat empty. The way his life was empty, without Jenny.

"To say that she is possessed implies that the spirit entered her without her knowledge or her consent. That is not what is happening to Willow."

"What's happening to Willow?" Xander asked as he burst into the library. It was quite obvious that he hadn't gone through his morning routine, his hair was a mess, his clothes were wrinkled and they didn't even approach matching, which was pathetic, even for Xander. Neither Giles nor Oz noticed any of that. Despite his disheveled look, there was real concern in his eyes. Both men at the table saw that.

"Come on, Xander, join WAW before it's to late." Oz said a little darker than he meant to.

"WAW?"

"Worried about Willow."

Xander slid into a chair around the big library table, "I'm in for membership, what's the buzz?"

Giles opened his mouth and was about to explain Willow's particular problem when the door to the library opened again and Buffy stormed into the room. She, like Xander, was disheveled and concerned. Unlike Xander, she was mad.

"Giles, I've had a really, really tough night and my mother had hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies waiting for me at home, but I didn't get to eat them because I had to come here! What is so important that it couldn't wait until school started?"

"The first official meeting of WAW." Xander muttered. Buffy shot him a glare with approximately the force she used to stab a vampire with a stake.

"Willow's body has been taken over by a foreign spirit." Giles said softly. Buffy froze in her tracks. All the anger and frustration she had felt melted away as she slumped into a chair, now all she felt was concern. 

"What can we do?" She asked to match Giles tone.

"Nothing at present. I have a few ideas, but we cannot implement the first one until sunset, and if that is a success, we'll need to take a trip to San Francisco."

"Tomorrow's a school day," Xander reminded them all. "How are you going to get us out?"

"I do have an idea on that front. I just need to see how it materializes. If worse comes to worse I'll just have to, ah . . ., steal her."

"But what about today?" Buffy asked, "Would she be able to make it through the day."

Giles ran his fingers through his hair. "I think so, in fact I think I should be able to keep all of you here today, I can't do this alone."

"Wether you can get us out or not, I'll help." Oz volunteered. It really wasn't much of a sacrifice for him. His only real reason for attending any class was to make Willow happy, but he said it with such a passion that it seamed as if he had given up something he cherished.

"I'll skip too," Xander offered, right on Oz's tail. "Except for third hour, I have a test."

"Just let me talk to Principal Snyder."

"Right, like he's going to do anything to help us." Buffy huffed.

"He'll do this." Giles muttered. "He won't want to, but he will."

  
  


"No." Snider said without even looking up.

"You don't seem to understand me." Giles insisted. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, a chance to watch professional researchers at work in one of the nation's top Libraries. An all expense-paid, overnight trip to San Francisco. What possible reason do you have to say no?"

"How many students will you be taking?"

"The invitation is for four students and myself."

"I suppose you have already chosen which four you will take?" He was using the verb will, a good sign.

"Naturally, I am thinking of taking those students who are the most interested in researching techniques, and whom I know will act responsibly on the trip."

"Is Buffy Summers among those four?"

Giles licked his lips. "Yes."

"Then I have to say no."

"May I ask why you are denying that particular student a potentially beneficial educational opportunity?"

"That particular student is emotionally disturbed and a troublemaker in general. Choose four students to take with you, but she cannot go. And if she is not in school tomorrow I will assume that you took her against my wishes and you will never be allowed to take a group to the public library again, and you don't even want to think about the consequences for Miss Summers."

Giles sighed, this was the best he could get. He had wanted Buffy to be there, and he was sure that once Willow was herself again she would have wanted Buffy there as well. But if he pressed the issue he would lose, and Willow _needed_ to go to San Francisco.

"Thank you sir, I do have one more request."

"Yes?" Snider was obviously not happy.

"I think that I should take the students who will be accompanying me out for today, to . . . orient them with what we will be doing tomorrow."

"That sounds reasonable."

Giles was surprised. "I can have them called out of their first hour class and prep them all day."

"After lunch, they will be called out after lunch."

Giles wanted to protest but he realized that he was in no position. "I suppose that can be arranged."

"And before they are called out I will need signed permission slips as well as a full schedule for the trip."

Giles realized that Snyder was purposely making it difficult for him to do. But Snyder had no idea how dedicated Giles was, nor how high the stakes were. He was going to get the parental permission and a fake schedule before noon. Giles was going to play by Snyder's rules and he was going to win.

  
  


"We need to take care of Willow until noon, now she can come here during her third period study hall. That leaves four periods, who can do what?" Giles asked. Cordielia had joined them and was playing footsie with Xander under the table.

"Why does she need to be watched again?" she asked.

Buffy, Oz and Giles looked away from her with disgust, Xander sighed and leaned over to her. "Cordy, she's possessed by a demon."

"Spirit." Oz interjected passionately. Everyone shifted their gaze to him but he held his ground. "Don't make it sound worse than it is."

"So, can't this spirit or demon or whatever take care of Willow for the first half of the day?" Xander kicked her. She looked at him, annoyed, and decided that she would punish him, no rendevous in the janitor's closet today. "I'll take her second hour, I have a study hall then. Will I just have to hang out here and make sure her head doesn't start spinning or something?"

Giles sighed. "You'll have to go to class with her, and make sure she doesn't do anything . . ."

"Demonic?" Buffy offered.

Giles nodded. Cordelia chewed on her lower lip for a second before claiming, "I can do that."

"Good," Giles said. "I don't want Xander to start skipping classes. We're on thin ice as it is. Buffy you have first hour, Mr. Rilly won't expect you and as long as you're in every single class tomorrow we'll be ok."

"Great, I have fourth and fifth covered." Oz said confidently.

"No, you have a computer class fifth period." Giles informed him.

"The computer system will be down, class will be canceled."

"How can you know that?"

"I'll crash it." 

"If they catch you . . ."

"Don't sweat it." Oz said cooly. "I'll make it look like an accident." They way he said that it sounded like he was a mob hit man about to murder a government official. It unnerved Giles, but Buffy, Xander, and Cordelia all felt better.

  
  


The day was long and hard. Buffy did everything she could to help Giles, she even signed Xander's permission slip (A role usually filled by Willow, but she was indisposed). All day they had to think of excuses for why Willow was so distant and space. Oz was the only one who seemed to have inexhaustible energy. Even when he was babysitting her he was bright and cheerful, he kept trying to draw Willow out, somehow bring her back. Nothing worked. Because of this he was appointed official babysitter during the afternoon. Xander was given the job of making all the travel arrangements. When he asked if they would be taking Giles car, Giles only laughed and asserted "That old thing couldn't make it to San Diego, we're taking the train." After the Train tickets and the Hotel rooms were reserved Xander, was given a rather unusual grocery list and sent out on an almost impossible shopping excursion. Cordelia insisted that she be given a job that focused on her strengths, much to everyone's dismay she went to each person's home and packed them an overnight bag. Buffy could not help. Giles didn't want to take the risk of making Snyder suspicious, or more suspicious. She was confined to class and could only look in the windows of the library and feel worried.

"You don't have to feel bad," Cordelia told her when they met after school. "Even If you can't go to San Francisco with us you can support Willow"

Buffy looked at her and wished that Xander was around to keep Cordelia from being a total idiot. "What are you talking about?"

"When I was packing Willows bag's, and let me tell you that was a nightmare, she has absolutely no sense of fashion, but anyway, I found this ribbon." She pulled out a lavender ribbon from her pocket. Buffy recognized it as one Willow occasionally wore in her hair. "I think we should cut it up and wear it for, you know, support."

"Support?"

"Like they wear those yellow ribbons of aids and those red one's for gay rights."

"It's yellow ribbons for a war, and aids has red ribbons." How could Cordelia be so dumb? 

"Well, anyway, WAW can have these nice lavender ribbons."

"WAW?"

"Worried about Willow." Cordy said with conviction.

Buffy smiled, no brain, but a heart somewhere hidden deep, deep down where no one would look. "Sure Cordy, I'll wear one."

  
  


"I don't want to go!" She screamed, "You can't make me!" She struggled arm's failing. Giles had to restrain her, for Willow's safety as well as his own. 

"I'm sorry, dear." He muttered as he tied her hands behind her back. The four other teens all watched wanting so badly to help but they knew that whatever was happening was far beyond their, including Buffy's, understanding. Once she was bound and gaged Giles stepped back and sighed. They could tell that what he was doing hurt him more than it hurt Willow. "We need to get her outside, discretely, to perform the ceremony."

"Outside, I can see, I wouldn't want to bet on discrete though." 

"Can you cause a diversion?" Giles asked, he was out of breath.

Oz raked his brain. Then someone flipped on the light switch. "Yea, diversions are do-able."

Three minutes later the entire school was evacuated as the sirens as a fire drill shrilled. Most of the people complained about fire drills after school hours. A rumor quickly circulated that the fire had started in the shop room. The odd thing was that none of the students around took shop. Xander and Cordy ran away from the speculating crowed snickering. Oz, Buffy , Giles, and Willow slipped into the Professor's beat up old car and slipped away without anyone noticing. 

"You know, the more I hang out with you guys the more fun it gets." Cordelia said gayly.

"Oh yea Cordy, we're just a ton of fun." Xander said bitterly. "Come on, we have to meet them at the train station in an hour, and we don't have a car."

Cordelia's jaw dropped, "You mean we have to walk!"

  
  


Buffy and Oz stood to the side and watched Giles un-gag Willow. "Listen, this won't hurt you," he said unsurely. "Just drink this cordial." Giles pulled out a small test tube which contained a clear blue liquid.

"No!" she screamed.

"Please," Giles begged, "If you don't drink it willingly, we'll have to . . . make you drink it."

"No!" It was definitely not Willow talking. "I know what you're trying to do, I won't let you. She opened the door and I locked it behind me. No way in or out now."

"You know that's not true."

"What do you think you can do?"

Giles looked at the ground, "Buffy?" He said softly.

"Yes?" She said as she stepped forward into the invisible circle that had healed her and Oz back. 

"Hold Willow, so she can drink this."

Buffy didn't know how she felt about that. It had seemed odd to see Giles restrain Willow, but the thought of doing so herself upset her even more. She trusted Giles though, so she walked up to Willow and grabbed her arms. Willow struggled violently, she kicked and wiggled, harder than Buffy would have given her credit for, but still she was no match for the Slayer.

"I won't!" Willow screeched. Oz thought that once Willow was Willow again she wouldn't have a voice.

"Hold her head back please." Giles was being very civil, very British, Buffy recognized it as a defense, so he wouldn't show how much what he was doing bothered him. 

"I've got my hand's full," she informed him. "Oz, we need you."

Oz didn't hesitate. He ran to the middle of the filed and eagerly said. "What do you need?"

"Hold her head back pleas. And stop up her nose." Oz followed the instructions and Willow only struggled harder. Oz was really afraid that he would break her perfect nose, but almost as soon as Giles poured the liquid down Willow's throat she stopped struggling. She became limp in Buffy's arm's.

"Ah . . . now what?" Buffy asked nervously.

"Quickly, lie her down." Giles whispered. They stretched Willow out on the ground. "Now she should be coming to any second, she'll only be herself for a short while, and . . ."

She gasped, a very Willowish gasp, and her eye's jerked open. It was Willow. "What happened?" She asked hoarsely. "What's going on?" Her breath was rapid and her eyes were darting from one person to the next. "Where am I," she paused for a second, realization filled her eye's. "Where was I?" 

"Willow," Giles said seriously. "You were dead, or at least your soul was pushed out of your body and sent to some place else."

"It was so cold," Willow's voice was trembling. Oz reached out and stroked her hair gently.

"You safe now," he said sweetly, "Coldness and Darkness is far away." She looked at him deep in the eyes, then she shifted her gaze to Buffy and then to Giles.

"I have to go back, don't I." There was no answer. "Please don't make me go back. I couldn't stand it. Please it's nothing there, It's all coldness and darkness and emptiness." She was crying now, Oz was crying with her, horrified that she had had to suffer so much pain. Buffy was on the edge of tears, but someone had to be strong and had to be ready for when the spirit came back.

"Willow, concentrate," Giles reminded her. "We don't want you to go back any more than you want to. But right now we don't have the control, a spirit does. Now, this is very important, she says you invited her in. Did you?"

Willow bit on her lower lip and made a futile effort to stop the tears. "I asked for a spirit to guide me, and teach me. I might have done it wrong, I might have said the wrong words."

"What spells did you use?"

"It was in a blue book. It was about supernatural empowerment."

Giles was beginning to understand what had happened. "Did you ask a spirit of magic to empower you?"

Willow closed her eyes, and nodded. Giles leaned back. "I was afraid of that." he mumbled. Then, he leaned forward again and resumed his very British manner."We're going to take you to San Francisco, I know a priest there who can cast the spirit out of your body."

"Ah . . .ah priest? Like 'say twelve Hail Mary's' and 'in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit'?"

"Yes," Giles wasn't sure why she seemed to be worried about all that. 

"My parents will kill me." She groaned.

"Willow, unless you do this you'll never see your parents again." Buffy reminded her.

"I'm so scared," she said softly. "I don't want to go back. It's so lonely."

"We love you, Willow," Buffy said strongly. She squeezed her friend's hand, Oz was still stroking her hair tenderly. Willow was terrified about her near future. The place she had gone was indeed cold, dark, and lonely but that was not in the least reflective of how it really was. Willow had been lonely before, but there she was totally alone, there was no other soul in any place, no reason for her to believe that there was hope that another soul would appear. And for some reason all the memories of her friends and those who loved her had faded. The worst thing of all was that Willow had a feeling that there should have been a presence, a good benevolent comforting person, who was not there, who could have been there, who wanted to be there to comfort her but something she had done, or had failed to do perhaps, kept it away. Willow could feel herself falling back into the cold dark place. She clung to Buffy's "we Love you" desperately hoping she could drag the comment with her. She couldn't.

  
  


"What do you know?" The spirit hissed with Willow's voice. "What did she tell you?"

"Nothing, it didn't work." Giles said, again briskly, Britishly, trying to hide his lie. Buffy let go of her hand and Oz stopped stroking her hair. They hoped that the spirit hadn't noticed how affectionate they had been. "You're lying!" she accused, "you sent me back!"

"Help her up." Giles said as he pushed himself off the ground. Buffy practically pulled her of the ground, and although she was not struggling her muscles were tense, and she would have bolted as soon as Buffy let go. "We're going to San Francisco, you're coming with us." He informed her, then he turned and started walking toward the car, Buffy followed pushing Willow all the way. Oz stood still for a second, he was hesitant to leave the spot that Willow, his Willow, had been. He could almost still feel her, he certainly still felt her pain. He inhaled deeply soaking in the moment and the essence that was quickly passing.

  
  


"I won't go with you to San Francisco!" The spirit screeched.

"Yes, you will. You have to." Giles said coldly, they were almost to the train station. 

"I am not under you're authority."

"You are under the authority of the hell mouth though, aren't you?"

"What do you know about those things?"

"More than you would ever give me credit for. You cannot do what you want to do as long as you are here, isn't that right?"

"Yes," she admitted reluctantly. 

"If you go to San Francisco with us and play along for a few days . . . I'll let you go."

The Spirit was wary, and with good reason. "Why would you do that?"

Giles pulled into a parking space and turned of his engin. He closed his eye. "Because, I realize that Willow is lost, and there is nothing I can do about that. It will hurt all of us to see you, everyday, and remember Willow. If you promise never to come back to Sunnydale, and never to see any of us again, then I'll think of an excuse for what happened to Willow, and we can all move on."

The spirit laughed. "How long will I have to play along?"

"Stay with us until we leave San Francisco tomorrow. If you leave before we do I will report you to the police and tell Willow's family who you really are and what happened to their daughter."

"What do you think that will do?"

"You figure it out." He turned around and looked into her eyes; chills ran down his spine. "Do we have a deal?"

"If you do not fulfil you're part of the bargain you will pay, dearly."

"I understand, more than you think I do"

She deliberated for a second but finally said, "I will cooperate." She said after consideration.

Giles nodded and let out a ragged breath; he hadn't realized that he was holding it. "We have to go, the train leaves soon. Xander and Cordelia are waiting for us inside."

  
  


The train ride was long, at least it was for Giles. Xander and Cordy seemed amply occupied in some dark out of the way place, making up for all the time they lost by working for Giles all day.

Oz was sitting, uncomfortably next to Willow, reading aloud from Withering Heights (an English assignment). So unless Giles was willing to sit through the tortured prose of one Emily Bronte, he was sitting alone, with more than enough time to think. He closed his eyes and remembered the last time he had gone to the man who was going to help them. He had been young, only 18, just starting college. Believing he knew quite a bit about the unseen world containing vampires, spirits, and all other non-human manifestations, he had discovered that he and his high school comrades where practically clueless. One of the first people he had met was a rather cocky young man name William Cotz, they all called him Billy. Billy had decided to start training to be a warlock, and he dove into it. After several months of ignoring his school studies and attempting to perform pointless magic pranks (That was all that Billy wanted, to have power over the dean, or the house mother, or a harsh professor) he found an old book which told him all about having Magic empowered by spirits. He followed the instructions in the book and was taken over by an evil spirit within a few days. The same as Willow.

Billy had indeed become powerful, but it didn't take all off Billy's friends long to notice that Billy was not himself. That he was possessed by some demonic force. Actually, it took them much longer to figure it out than it had taken Oz to figure out Willow was not herself, and then with a few pointed questions, Giles to confirm it. Billy had not had such good friends, people who could know he was not himself by the tone of his voice. So when it was finally discovered that Billy was not himself it was almost to late to bring him back. The one person who had seemed to have an inkling of what to do was a senior, majoring in Theology, named Mycroft Tome. He proposed that they all go to a church and try to cast out the spirit. It was readily agreed upon, only Mycroft found, much to his dismay, that he was the only one who was brave enough to do it. Giles remembered how Mycroft had stayed up the entire night before the exorcism, praying about it. At the time Giles had considered it odd, to pray like that. In his experience God was not to concerned about the workings of the dark underworld. Now he wasn't so sure, and he knew that prayer could not hurt.

That day at the college's chapel about ten people had gathered around to see the casting out of spirts. Billy had been almost impossible to get to the holy place, and as he stood there facing the slightly frightened Mycroft, armed only with holy water, he laughed. It turned out to be the spirit's last laugh, Mycroft said only a few words and sprinkled just a little holy water and Billy was back, but he was different. He had been in the same place that Willow had been to, it made him secluded and reserved. In three months he committed suicide. Giles tried not to think about that.

Mycroft was changed too, he became a priest almost immediately after he had graduated. He had disappeared for a while, but suddenly re-appeared when he was chastised by the church of England for "Exploiting unapproved doctrines and unaccredited beliefs." After that he felt that he could no longer show his face in England, so he had moved into San Francisco. Giles had called Mycroft as soon as he had discovered his old friend's new location, and they had been in a semblance of communication with e-mail for a while, but now, on the eve of actually seeing him again after so many years Giles was getting nervous. He had a feeling that, just like when Billy had been possessed, Mycroft would make him think about what he did in a new way, cause a sort of minor paradigm shift, that was the only reason that Giles hadn't visited him yet. Of course that was all subconscious, Giles believed that all his worries were about Willow, not about his world views.

  
  


Once registered in the semi-nice hotel Xander had gotten reservations in, there unpacked in two adjoining rooms, and one across the hall. Giles gave Xander the four keys for the adjoining rooms. "I don't care who rooms with whom," He glanced and Xander and Cordelia, "Order room service, movies, video games, stripers, whatever, just don't leave, and don't let Willow alone."

Xander nodded, "Understood. But what are you going to be doing?"

"I need to make the final arrangements for tomorrow, I suggest that you all try and get a good night's sleep.

"I don't know why," He muttered to himself as he lead them down the hall and to their rooms, "You believe that a good night's sleep constitutes of three and a half hours."

  
  


Tentatively the three normal people looked at the list of room service delicacies. "Oh, the chicken-cordon-bleu sounds good." Xander said sarcastically.

Cordelia let out a sound of disgust. "I am not eating any of this stuff."

"Pizza hut is always an excellent choice," Oz reminded them all.

"Whatever!" Cordy screeched. "That stuff has so much grease on it that I'll gain three pounds by just looking at it."

"Could you explain the scientific principal behind that?" Xander asked. Promptly Cordy hit him with her menu.

"What are you up for Willow?" Oz asked good naturedly.

"I have no intention to eat." The demon answered. 

A hush filled the room, finally out of desperation Xander tried to break the ice, "So, what should we get."

"I'm not staying here." Cordelia said as she stood up and grabbed her purse and coat. "Willow's really nice and everything but right now she is really freaking me out."

"What?" Xander asked, "are you going to bunk with Giles for the night?"

"No," she said defensively, "I'm going to go shopping. I'll bring back food." She reached the door. "Anyone want to come?" No one moved, that bothered Cordelia, just a little, that Xander would rather be with a demon-possessed Willow then her, but she decided not to think about it. "I'll be back soon." She said chipperly and went out the door. Xander and Oz sat looking at the door, and then glanced at each other. 

"So, what'ch'wan'a do?"

Oz shrugged

  
  


"I'm Back!" Cordy's singsongy voice cut through the silence of the dark room. There was no answer. Cordelia set down her shopping bags and slowly walked further into the room. She left the door open so that she could bolt if need be. Naturally she expected the worse, to find Oz and Xander lying dead on the floor with a demented Willow eating their raw flesh like a wild animal. _That's what he get's for letting me go out alone_ she thought bitterly. She poked her head into the main room and didn't see any movement, _she could be asleep, having eaten two men and all_. Cordy was about to turn on the light when she heard a tortured Xander scream "NO!" from the other room. Without thinking Cordelia burst through the door and was about to brutally attack Willow when she realized that Willow was sitting silently on one bed reading a _Newsweek_ and that Xander and Oz were lying on the other bed, deeply immersed in whatever was going on on TV. Cordelia was so shocked that all she could do was stand and watch.

"But she has to marry him," Oz pointed out, "If she doesn't it's sianora to her family."

"But she loves Rodriguez! She has to follow her heart!" Xander was obviously very distressed by what he was watching. 

Cordelia had seen enough, the demon was not posing an immediate threat. "Am I interrupting something?" asked when she felt like she had enough to effectively blackmail either of them when the time came.

The two boys looked up in shock, and then Xander rolled of the bed in a commando-like move and grabbed the remote control, which had been laying all but forgotten on the floor. Quickly he changed the channel and continued to change the channel. "Nothing good is on." he said with mock frustration, continually flipping the channel, too fast to see what anything was. Cordy stood looking at the two boys pretending to be cool, they should have known that the two of them couldn't pull it off.

"Oh, Look!" Oz said, "Captain Kirk!"

Xander stopped channel surfing and watched William Shatner with an enthusiasm that scared Cordelia. 

"Oh, this is the one with that mime girl that can't talk!" Oz exclaimed.

"Here it comes." Xander said with anticipation, and then both boys simultaneously said, "He's dead Jim," in perfect synchronism with the television. Cordelia could not stand it any more, she briskly walked in front of the tv and turned it off. Xander and Oz's expressions dimmed. 

"What do you two think you are doing?" she demanded.

"Well, mother," Xander said sarcastically. "We were bonding."

Cordy looked at them in disbelief. "You were bonding? Like hunting down vampires doesn't make you feel close enough?"

"Slaying is definitely an A-1 trust building activity." Oz commented from the floor. "But it should be criticized for it's lack of down time."

"So you just sat there and channel surfed?"

"No, actually, we played video games for a while."

Oz pushed himself to his feet. "Still the champ!" He jumped, just a little, "is that Chinese food I smell?"

Cordy didn't answer. "He beat you at video games?"

"Well, he had a lot more time to get the skills, I had to go out slaying with Buffy for three years while he sat around at the arcade."

"Whatever," she followed Oz into the adjoining room where several cartons of Chinese takeout were waiting. Xander couldn't help but feel a little snubbed, nevertheless he followed the other two into the next room, grabbed some chopsticks, and dug in.

  
  


It was late, even for people who were used to hunting vampires till all hours of the night. They had ordered a movie to go with their food, and they watched it with only mild interest. Oz was to tired to think any about the figures running around on the screen. Xander and Cordy made an honest attempt to restrain themselves, but by the time the movie was over they realized that they were fighting a losing battle. "Let's watch another movie," she said, licking her lips, "a romantic one."

Oz glanced at them with blood shot eyes, "I think this is where I call it a night." He pushed himself off the floor and stumbled into the other room. "Have fun."

"Not likely!" Cordelia blurted out.

Both boys looked at her in amazement. "May I ask what's the point?" Xander finally said.

"I mean this isn't going to work with demon girl looking on." She glanced at Willow who had not left her perch on the bed, or even said a word all night.

The Spirit looked at Cordelia and Xander with contempt, "you may do whatever you want, I will not interfere." Anything that was ever remotely Willow had disappeared. Oz closed his eyes and remembered what Giles had said, tomorrow Willow would be alright, fine, normal, and everything he had ever dreamed of. 

"Look Xander, what it comes to is Oz stays, we move, or she moves."

Xander was understandably bewildered. "Let me get this strait, it would be Ok if there were two people watching, but only one creeps you out."

Cordelia nodded.

Xander looked at her with a bewildered gaze. "Congratulation Cordy, you win the award for wackiest logic! Are you ready to claim your prize."

"Shut up," She said sulkily. "You may be used to all this freaky stuff, but I am most definitely not!"

"Maybe I'm just really tired, but she is not making any sense."

"Gotta go with sleepy boy." Xander said, "You are not making any thing that ever once resembled sense."

"If both of them were in the room then I could at least pretend that they were making out too."

Oz looked at Xander. His expression seemed to be saying 'And you find her attractive, how?'

"Hey," Xander said defensively, "At least my girlfriend isn't a demon."

Oz looked as if he had been stabbed. "You didn't need to say that."

"It's true." Cordelia reminded them, totally unaware of how hurt Oz looked. Xander wasn't.

"I'm sorry man, I wasn't thinking."

"Right." Oz said quietly. He walked all the way into the other room and closed the door. 

"I blew that." Xander said sadly. Unbeknownst to him, Oz had become one of his closest friends, and Willow had been (in many ways) the main person in his life for so long. What has he been thinking? "Sorry Cordy, I think we've been spending to much time together."

"What do you mean?" Cordelia was insulted by the implication. She had lost the mood anyway.

"I'm going to bed too." Xander got up and was almost in the other room before Cordelia protested.

"You're going to just leave me hear with this . . ." as Cordelia searched for a proper word Xander gave her a look that could frighten a vampire. "I mean her," Cordy said quickly.

"Well usually the general idea is girl's room, guy's room. Don't ask me why?"

Cordelia didn't say anything she just sat there gasping, "Ah . . .Ah,"

"She's not going to kill you."

"Fine leave me alone." Cordy said violently, "I thought you might!" She crawled to the bags she had brought back from shopping, she had bought a lot more than Chinese food. "I planned ahead." She said as she dug through her bags. "And I got these."

"Hand cuffs? You're plan is to handcuff her?"

"Someone has to do something to protect us from ihh . . . her."

"What you're doing is both wrong and stupid. Even you should be clever enough to figure that out!"

"Oh! Ouch! The guy who would leave a girl with a demon is worried about the moral implications of handcuffing said demon!"

"She promised not to do anything."

"You trust a devil spawn?"

Cordy had him there. He walked over and took the handcuffs from her. He tore open the package and looked at the silver rings, and the keys. "As long as we've got this straight, We're cuffing the demon, not Willow."

"Right."

"As long as we're clear on that point."

  
  


At 6:30 am Xander and Oz were awaken by an obnoxious ringing. "Wha . . . ?" Oz groaned into the phone, once he figured out it was that was ringing so obnoxiously.

"Oz?"

"Yhuu?"

"This is Giles."

"I kinda noticed." Oz sat up, he was still exhausted.

"Well in that case, wake everyone up and have them ready to go by seven, I expect to meet you all in the Lobby."

Oz glanced at the clock. "That's like in an half an hour."

"Yes, I'll see you at Seven." Giles hung up.

For a few seconds Oz sat in his bed and wondered about how he was going to get those four people up and out in half an hour. He figured that Xander wouldn't be too hard, he didn't seem like the kind of person who took a lot of time getting ready. The girls would be different though. Cordelia was the type of person who would want to spend a few hours making herself look pretty, and Willow would need her help.

Oz rolled of his bed and decided to get to work. He grabbed Xander's blankets and pulled them off. Xander groaned and groped for the blankets.

"Sorry, man, time to rise and shine. We've got to be going. Giles want's to meet us in half an hour."

Again Xander groaned, but this time he sat up and groggily pulled himself out of bed. "What do you say about getting up the girls, I'll get the coffee going."

"Fine, Coffee is a definite must this morning." Oz knocked on the door between the rooms. There was no answer. He knocked again. Again, no answer. "Cordelia? Willow?" He shouted at the door. Oz thought he heard a muffled response, but he couldn't be sure. "Cordy! Willow! I'm coming in . . . uh . . . in after uh . . . the count of three! Unless . . . unless you tell me not to!"

Agin there was only a muffled answer. "Ok, One!" He waited a second, nothing happened. "Two!"

Xander pocked his head out. "Everything all right?"

"I don't know. They're not answering me."

"You gonna break the door down?"

"I was considering it."

"Let me help."

"Three!"

Both boys flew at the door and just as they were about to hit it, it flew open and they both fell onto a nicely made bed. Once they realized what had just happened they rolled off the bed and Xander tried very hard to show Cordy just how upset he was for upsetting him like that but Oz couldn't stop snickering, and that ruined the whole lovers quarrel mood. 

"Why didn't you answer when Oz called?!" He yelled angrily.

"I did, I guess the two of you are just hard of hearing or something!"

"We were worried about you!"

"Well aren't you considerate!" Finally Oz, quiet giggles were too much for Cordy to ignore. "What's so funny?" 

"Nothing, I just think the two of you together, are . . . amusing. No harm intended"

"Would you care to explain that?" Cordelia asked. But Oz never did, at that moment he glanced away from the two lovers and towards Willow. He was very disturbed by what he saw. "Who hand cuffed her?"

Xander glanced at Cordelia and she looked back at him, for some reason it didn't seem like it was that good of an idea any more. "Ah," Cordelia finally said, "I thought that she was going to attack me, or something last night. I wanted to be prepared."

"And so you chained her up like an animal?"

Again Xander and Cordelia shared guilty glances. "Better safe than sorry." Xander offered lamely. 

Oz shrugged. "Just give me the keys, I'll take care of her."

Xander reached into his pocket, took out the key and threw them to him. 

"Her clothes are in this bag." Cordy said as she motioned to a small suitcase on a chair. "You can dress her."

Both Oz and Xander's jaws dropped almost to the floor. "I can't do that." Oz said after a moment. He started to meddle with the cuffs.

"You're her boyfriend, aren't you? And it's not like it's really Willow." Unbeknownst to Cordelia her argument contradicted itself. 

"It's close enough to Willow that it would be wrong!" Xander pointed out.

"I am able to maintain a body." The spirit said coldly. The lock on the hand cuffs snapped and Oz flung his hand's back. He hadn't expected her to talk, and he hadn't expected her to sound so much like Willow. 

"I say we let her dress herself, like a big girl." Xander suggested.

"I'm for that." Oz seconded.

"In about thirty minuets, then?" Xander asked looking at Cordelia.

"Try fifteen."

  
  


The church that they brought Willow to was amazing. It was an old mission that had been turned into a tourist attraction. Giles was able to convince the Demon that they were visiting the tourist section, she obviously didn't trust them; but she had made a deal with Giles, and she was held by rules that went beyond the physical universe and the fabric of time. And of course they didn't know that, so the four non-possessed people were continually edgy and hoping that she wouldn't catch on and do something evil. 

"Hello?" Giles called into the seemingly empty church.. "Mycroft? Are you here?"

A figure stepped out of the shadows suddenly. Giles, Xander, Cordy, and Oz all jumped back with surprise. Willow didn't move, but her mood darkened, Oz got chills by just standing next to her. "Ah, Rupert, 'tis good to see you again. It has been too long." The priest stepped toward Giles and embraced him warmly. The teens stood there and watched, Xander tried to think of something clever to say but he couldn't. It seemed to make the moment even more awkward and strange. 

After a few traditional greeting's the priest finally got around to inquiring about Giles companions. "Oh, yes." He said apologetically. "Introductions had completely slipped my mind. This is, ah, Xander, and Cordelia and, Oz, and, umm, normally, Willow."

"Willow?" The priest said with a weighty voice. 

Giles nodded. 

"Well, children, there is much to do, so we'd better get to it. Hadn't we?"

The three glanced at one another, unsure how to react to the unusual man. "Sure," Xander said with exaggeration.

"Good, good, follow me."

They glanced at each other again and followed without much ado. Willow remained stationary. "Willow, you must come along." Giles said sternly. He knew that she was bound by her word, as long as she felt that Giles was bound by his.

"I know who he is." She said darkly. "And I know what you plan."

"Are you afraid?"

Willow glared at him with unnerving intensity. "This will not happen, I will not go back."

"You have precious little choice at this point."

Willow looked at him, and Giles suddenly became very afraid, he realized that he had been playing a game that he didn't know all the rules too. And he had showed his hand too soon. Giles knew that if he didn't think quickly he would be with Jenny in a matter of minuets. Willow approached him powerfully, Giles backed away. He glanced around hoping for some sort of Divine inspiration, to tell him what to do and how to get out of it. Willow was only a few feet away when Giles noticed a crucifix on the wall opposite him. Quickly he crossed himself, the way he had learned growing up in the Church of England, and muttered. "I call on the protection of Jesus Christ." Willow immediately stopped in her tracks. She gave Giles a contemptuous glare, but she could not touch him. "Help!" The Librarian yelled. "Mycroft! Xander! Oz!" Willow looked for a second as if she was going to jump him, but she couldn't, and she knew it. So instead she started running. 

Everyone turned around just in time to see Willow's body run out the door. Immediately Xander and Oz bolted after her. After a second of confusion the others followed. None of them were particularly fast so it took them what seemed like a horribly long time to catch up with Xander and Oz, who were standing, still as stone, at the top of a grand stairway. The kind of stairs that are only found in San Francisco, steep and long. About half way down Willow was lying perfectly still. "What happened?" Giles gasped.

"She tripped." Xander said softly. "We were about to catch her and, she just flew onto the stairs."

"That's the kind of fall that kills people." Mycroft said, there was a definite tone of fear in his voice. It seemed to inspire Oz, who started to jump down the stairs two and three at a time. He knelled next to her body and delicately pulled her hair away from her face. "Willow, are you ok? Please, please, be ok."

Willow opened her eyes, suddenly, and Oz realized that he had been just a little blinded by love, and much, much, to trusting. "I am." She hissed as she grabbed Oz's hands. He tried to pull away but she had an iron grip. "Help me up." She ordered him. Silently and fearfully he obeyed. But once they were both on their feet Oz noticed that he was supporting a good deal of Willow's weight. From the top of the stairs the four onlookers could clearly see why, one of Willow's legs was bent in a way that legs shouldn't be. It was making Cordelia sick to her stomach by just looking at it.

"She has Oz. What can we do?" Giles asked his old friend nervously.

"Surly, you know that all her threats and all her powers amount to nothing next to the power of God." Mycroft said with assurance. He walked down the stares slowly, but confidently. "Demon!" He yelled, his voice seemed to be powered by something more than himself, just as Willow's voice seemed to be powered by something other than herself. "I command you to leave that girl and return to the place from whence you came!"

"No!" she screamed. Every muscle in Willow's body tensed. She started squeezing Oz's hands, and he got the distinct feeling that she wanted to use him as a shield against whatever was assaulting her. And he didn't know wether or not that was a good thing. "I was invited!"

"In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, I command you to leave that girl and return to the black pits of Hell!"

Willow shrieked. Her scream was blood curdling, it chilled Oz to the bone. Her grip was weakening and she started trembling. She was below him on the stairs, Oz had the feeling that if she lost her grip she would fall, agin, and not get up quite as easily. He twisted his hand's around to free them and as soon as they were lose he grabbed her arm's and held on tight. Finally after what seemed like an eternity for Oz, her seizure stopped and she was limp in his arm's carefully he laid her down on the stairs. Xander, Giles Cordelia and Mycroft all ran down the steps and quickly surrounded Oz and Willow, looking on with care and concern. 

Finally Willow opened her eyes. Oz had no doubt that whoever had been in her was long gone and Willow had returned. "Welcome back." Oz said quietly, "we missed you."

"It's forever now, isn't it?" She asked "I won't be sent back."

"The demon was cast out." Giles assured her. "Your body is yours again."

Willow smiled weekly, and then started to cry. They were slow heart felt sobs that released all the pain and tension and fear that she had had to endure for almost two days was released in her tears. Those surrounding her stood in silence, and Oz comforted her the only way he could. He stroked her hair tenderly and whispered in her ear, "You're safe, you're back, It's all good."

  
  


Willow was asleep when they got to the hospital. She had cried herself to sleep there on the steps, in Oz's embrace. He hadn't wanted to disturb her, she was so peaceful and serine. But she was also bleeding from her broken leg and Giles was positive she was going into shock. Oz cared her into the hospital with care, Xander offered to do it but Oz insisted. The nurse looked at the party, one teacher, one priest and three worried friends, suspiciously. They all had to wait in the waiting room, watching an annoying movie staring Haily Mills or reading back issues of _Time Magazine_. After about a half hour Cordelia decided that it would be nice to go to the hospital gift shop and buy Willow flowers. She dragged Xander off with her. They were still gone when the nurse reemerged and said that Willow was awake, and she wanted to see Oz.

"Can't we all see her?" Giles asked, just a little hurt that she had not requested to see all of them.

"You will all be able to see her, in due time. There are just a few things that need to be sorted out before you can see her."

"What sort of thing?!" Giles said with wonder.

"I'm afraid I am not at liberty to say until they have been sorted out."

"Oh," Giles said rather timidly. He glanced at Oz, who nodded knowingly.

"I'll keep you posted."

  
  


"How are you feeling?" Oz asked her tenderly, as he sat down on her bed.

She had one of her legs extended and in a cast, and there was a wight bandage around her head. "I keep waking up in new places." Willow said cheerily. Oz could tell that Willow was not actually cheerful, but was putting on a show to make him feel better. She was so considerate. "It's fun!"

"You want to know something? You are without a doubt the most beautiful person I've ever seen." Willow smiled genuinely. Oz felt like he was flying. "I'd say in the world, but I don't want you to think that I'm close minded."

"I don't think anything you could do would make me think any less of you."

He sat there, smiling at her, and she smiled at him. He totally forgot that he had been called in there by a Nurse for a purpose. He was just so happy to be with Willow, the real Willow. For her part, she was still frightened by the whole experience. It was the first thing on her mind, burning into her thoughts. She wanted desperately to move on and to live in present, but just like a fresh wound she could feel the pain acutely and she had a feeling that it was dreadfully obvious to every one else. Had she been thinking, she would have asked what had happened, discovered the cover story, but she was trying too hard to somehow overcome the eternal despair she was feeling, she couldn't think at all. 

After about two seconds of comfortable, loving silence, the nurse came back and brought a man who looked a little too nice with her. "This is Doctor Myers." She said cooly. 

"Hello children." He smiled; Oz didn't like him. "I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about your relationship."

Willow looked over to Oz, he could see terror deep in her eyes. He liked the Doctor even less. "What do you want to know?" Oz said cautiously.

"Well, how about Willow's injuries? How did she get those."

"She fell down the stairs." Willow reached to Oz subtly, he grabbed her hand and healed it with affection. 

"How?"

_She was possessed by a demon and running away from an exorcist_, "We were playing around, and she tripped."

"Playing?" Dr. Myers looked skeptical.

"Tag."

"You were playing tag?"

"We do that . . . A lot." Willow said quickly. "It's sort of our version of playing hard to get."

"And the scars on your wrist? Can you attribute that to a harmless game?" He said it so kindly that he sounded like Mr. Rogers, he was not establishing a report with either of them.

Willow looked at her wrist and for the first time noticed the thin red lines which circled them like bracelets. Oz looked at them, and traced the one on the hand he was holding with his thumb. He couldn't think of any excuse, so he would tell the truth, kind of. "Uh, those are from the hand cuffs."

Willow inhaled sharply, "You had to put me in hand cuffs?" 

The doctor's right eyebrow shot up. "Why did you put her in hand cuffs?"

"I didn't," Oz was talking to Willow more than the doctor. "It was Cordy's idea."

"Why is Cordy here again?" Willow asked. "She can be nice and all, but it's just not like Giles to leave Buffy and . . . Bring Cordelia."

Oz nodded. "Principle Snyder sort of said ix nay on the uffy bay. Giles had to bring four people to keep up the cover and well, she's better than a stranger."

"Oh," Willow understood completely. Unfortunately Dr. Myers didn't.

"Ah, children?" The Doctor said, trying to separate them in more ways than one. "Who is Cordelia?"

Willow and Oz looked at each other, "A . . . friend." 

"Your friend put you in hand cuffs?"

"Well," Oz interjected. "She's more like the friend of a friend."

"She can be really nice, sometimes." Willow added.

"Willow," The doctor put on his concerned face. Oz didn't like it at all. "I wonder if the people who say they are your friends are really your friends?"

"You don't know any of my friends."

"I have had a good look at, ah . . . Oz? Is that your name?" Oz nodded, cautiously. "Willow, do you get hurt when you are with your friends a lot?"

"Well," she looked down. "Not all the time."

"But often?"

"It's not their fault. We live in a very dangerous place."

"Willow, if you get hurt when you're with your friends they are not really your friends."

"You have no idea who you are talking about." Willow said with disgust. She was far to emotionally raw to be tactful. "My friends love me, I know they do. You can think whatever you want, you can think that Oz pushed me down the stairs, you can believe that Cordelia is some evil person who want's to hurt me, you can think that . . . that I have some sort of victim oriented personality type. I don't care because it's not true. I just went through hell, and I doubted how much my friends loved me but now I know, because they went through their own sort of hell, they were all so worried about me. I look at all the people around me, all their relationships, and they have nothing next to what I have. Would your friends risk their lives for you? Mine would for me." She was crying again, this time slow tears that made little rivers down her cheeks. Oz had to fight the impulse to kiss them off.

The Doctor was not so sentimental. "Willow are you part of a gang?" Oz did not fight the urge to laugh.

"How many gang members do you know who hang out with British librarians and priest?"

That got him. "I know that you are in the hospital, I know that you would not be here if it weren't for your friends."

"I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for my friends. I would have died in situations a lot worse than falling down the stairs!"

"Maybe you could explain that . . ."

Oz looked at the doctor. "You're upsetting her. And I won't be violent, mainly because if I am that will sort of proves your point, and you'll never let me see her again, and that would kill me; but I think you should know that the last thing she needs at this point is to be upset. And sure you have her best interest in mind, and maybe if you were able to really understand all the stuff she had to go through it'd be Ok. But right not she needs her friends close, and you telling her that her friends aren't really her friends will only hurt her. And if you hurt her," He paused and took a deep breath. "It would be kinda like shooting down the stars with a sling shot."

The doctor looked at Oz with wonder. He had dismissed Oz as a punk, who probably abused his girlfriend. But punks didn't talk like that. They didn't have the poetry, or the ability to string together thoughts with such intricacy. Oz was not what he seemed, and after that little speech, Willow was smiling. She didn't seem afraid, not when she was with him. Dr. Myers didn't know what the two teens had, but he could tell that neither of them had any complaints. "I only have one more question, and then I'll leave you alone, I promise." His tone was not as friendly or rehearsed. He seemed more real."I can tell you love her, but can I ask, why?"

Oz didn't mind answering that question. He look at Willow right in the eyes, in the eyes that still had pain painted all over them. "She's beautiful," he said softly. Then louder. "I don't mean like Cindy Crawford of Pamela Lee, because that's all superficial, I mean like a sunset or a horse running, or a really good Jazz riff. And what's funny is that after you hear really good jazz its painful to hear bad jazz, in fact remembering the good jazz is better then trying to pretend the bad Jazz is good. That's what Willow is like. Perfect melodies and harmonies. Something that can't be repeated and can't be imitated."

Dr. Myers was content with that answer.

  
  


Giles paced the nearly empty waiting room anxiously. "Why won't they let us see her, what could they possibly want to talk to Oz about for so long?"

"Pacing will not answer your questions." Mycroft said soothingly.

"Neither will sitting. At least this way I can work some of this nervous energy."

"Rupert, I'd like to talk to you."

"Go ahead, I'm listening."

"I can't talk to you if you continue to pace."

Giles took a deep breath and sat down in a cheep easy chair next to the priest. "Alright, Father, what do you want to talk about?"

"Rupert the ripper."

Giles stood up and started pacing again. "I don't want to talk about any of that. It was a long time ago."

"I can tell it was a long time ago. In fact I was going to compliment you on how well you've been able to move on. As I think of the ripper, the person who was gothic before it was in style," Giles chuckled, partly out of shame. "You are now a respectable librarian, and a wonderful watcher."

Giles stopped pacing. "Your approval means something to me. You were always the good one in the group. Looking back I have often wished that I had been able to know you better."

"You finally understand the importance of Good in an evil world."

Giles nodded. "I remember what you wrote in my year book. 'If there is so much evil, think of how much greater the good must be to hold the world together' As I started really understanding the darkness that had fascinated me, I started realizing that there must be a grand force of good."

"A Good God."

Giles looked down. Mycroft could tell that he wasn't ready to think about a God yet, and Mycroft wouldn't push it. "But you love these children, don't you? Your slayer and her friends?"

Giles looked up, thankful for the change in conversation. "Yes, very much."

"You are a good watcher. I have meet many, of course none who actually had a slayer, but no one else seemed to care about the people, they were always focused on the job."

"I, of course never thought that I would ever be an actual Watcher. I moved to Sunnydale to do research and observe the activities of the Hell mouth, but then Buffy came and..." he paused thinking about Buffy, all her quarks and attitude. "Well, she was not what I had though a slayer should be, and the Slayer was not what she wanted to be. It has been difficult, but it has also been the most rewarding thing I have ever done."

Mycroft nodded again, "you are a very good watcher."

  
  


The others had left. They had to leave, the doctors had to practically drag Oz out. Willow clung to the little teddy bear Xander had brought her from the Hospital gift shop, and tried not to think about where she had spent the last twenty-four hours. The T.V. in her room was on and humming, reminding her that she was in a world full of people, It didn't make her any less lonely. Willow was smart enough to realize that no matter how much Oz or Xander or Giles loved her she couldn't live off the memories of that love for long. She had held on to it desperately when it was all she had, but now she felt as if she needed to find something stronger, something so strong that even the dark emptiness couldn't keep it away. She was reminded of that almost love that she had felt, the love that wanted to save her, but couldn't because of something she had done. She wondered of Giles had anything about that in any of his books, she would like to know more.

The door creaked open and Willow expected it to be the nurse telling her to go to sleep. But every time Willow closed her eyes she was back in that place, alone and Cold.

She turned to see the visitor and was very surprised to see, not a nurse, but rather a man, in priestly garb. Willow knew who he was immediately. Actually she didn't know who he was, she just knew what he had done for her. And she was more thankful than she could ever express.

"May, I come in?" He asked timidly.

"Of course." Willow said eagerly. "I'd get up to let you in, but I'm sort of hooked up." She nodded towed the IV which steadily dripped water into her body. 

The priest walked into the room and sat in a chair next to Willow's bed. She looked at him intently. He looked at her kindly, almost with the affection of a father. "Giles told me all about how it happened." Willow broke the gaze and looked down at her bare. "You were innocent and naive and the spirit took advantage of you."

"It was right though, I did invite it in."

"Why, you are one of God's own creations, he made you and he loves you as you are. You don't need to grow closer to a supernatural demon to find fulfillment, you need to grow closer to him."

"I wasn't looking for fulfillment." Willow protested, although at the moment fulfillment sounded pretty good to her. "I was looking for help. Do you know anything about . . ."

"The hell mouth?" The priest interjected. "Vampires, slaying, your friend Buffy?"

"I just wanted to help her, I wanted to fight fire with fire."

The priest smiled, the sort of smile that is sad and encouraging at the same time, the sort of smile you give to a little kid who wants so badly to hold a baby, but just isn't big enough yet. "Willow, you should know that the only way to fight fire is with water."

"I don't understand."

"You were training to become a witch, weren't you?"

"Yes,"

"You were ready to embrace, encourage, and actually give power to those things which gives power to the vampires."

"I don't understand."

"Like you said, you were trying to fight fire with fire, but rather than fighting it you ended up feeding it."

"I don't know how else to fight."

"With water- goodness, kindness, grace, mercy, love."

"Those aren't weapons."

"Yes dear, they are. If you know how to use them. They can be the most effective weapons in any arsenal." He reached into a pocket and pulled out a little black box. "But I can tell that you want something a little more tangible, so take this."

Willow took the box cautiously and opened it. Inside was a plain silver cross, similar to Buffy's only smaller and more delict. "I can't take this." Willow said as she closed the Box and tried to hand it back to him, He made no motion to take it from her.

"Why not?"

"Well, first off it's really nice, and I just couldn't. And second, I'm Jewish and if my parents saw me wearing a cross it would really freak them out. I . . . I have to sneak over to Xander's house just to see a _Charlie Brown Christmas_."

"Take it. I wouldn't have given it to you unless I believed that you needed it. As far as religion goes, don't you realize that your God and my God are one?"

"But the whole thing about Jesus . . ."

"Then consider this, why does the cross have such power over vampires, demons, and other dark apparitions?"

Willow had never thought of that before. She had no idea. "Because he's good?" She asked.

"Your on the right track dear." The priest said kindly. He slowly pushed himself out of his chair. "I think you have enough to ponder for tonight." He started walking towards the door slowly. Willow wanted him to stay and explain everything to her, but she had a feeling that he wanted her to find the truth for herself. So it would be her truth, not his. "Do you mind if I pray for you?" He asked as he was about to exit.

"No,"she mumbled. "It can't hurt, right?" She tried to smile at him, but it faded quickly.

"No, it can't." And he left the room.

Willow was even more confused than before, and even more lonely. "God?" she asked horsily. No one answered. She decided that maybe God needed a little more prompting than she had given for an answer, "Well, if you're there, I'm really scared and lonely, and all I want to do is help Buffy but I guess I can't with witch craft, so..." she sighed deeply. "I don't know." She closed her eyes and for a moment sat quietly. The wind rustled outside her window and she thought that she could hear gentle drops of rain patter against it. Soon it was an outright torrent of rain assaulting her window. Slowly she opened her eyes. The rain was very comforting for some reason. She was about to lie down and go to sleep when she noticed that she still held the little box in her hand. She opened it again and looked down at the silver cross. Could there be power in such a simple charm? Buffy always wore one, and so did Angel, when he was good. But when Angel had become bad, he had stopped. If nothing else it was a symbol of good. Willow traced the lines of the cross with her fingers and then she made her decision. It seemed like a small choice, but she realized that, in fact, it was the kind of decision which could change her life if it went unchecked. She lifted the necklace over her head and put it on. She looked at the cross one more time and then slipped it under her shirt. It was slightly chilly against her breast. Then she closed her eyes and fell asleep with little ado.


End file.
